THE TIME WARRIOR

The Time Warrior is a generally fondly regarded adventure, but we don't think it quite justifies its reputation. The good parts are very good, but the rest doesn't really make the most of its potential.

The Time Warrior's a pretend historical, with a bit of SF-y stuff mixed in in the form of a Sontaran who fell to Earth. Kevin Lindsay as Linx is great, but once Robert Holmes has plunked him down and got the scientists cracking on repairing his giant golf ball, nothing else much really happens with him. Although Linx's relationship with Irongron is one of the best bits of the adventure, there isn't enough interaction between the Linx and Irongron bits of the plot - having Linx go along to the Wessexes' castle just for a look-see, for example, is a bit weak and throws away the potential inherent in the Sontarans' warlike nature. (Where, incidentally, did Linx get those crappy old rifles? Surely they're not state of the art in the Sontaran Empire?)

David Daker chews the scenery magnificently as Irongron, making the most of some killer lines of dialogue, but again, he doesn't really go anywhere. And the other supporting characters, from the disappointingly wooden Bloodaxe to the personality-free zone that is the Wessexes, don't add a lot of interest. Even the scientists barely blink an eye at being transported back to the Middle Ages in their pyjamas. Since none of the characters Grow And Learn As People, it reduces the action to a series of going-through-the-motions set pieces. Shame.

On the other hand, though, there's Sarah Jane. And wow, what an impact she makes right from her first scene. Jo who? Sarah's smart, resourceful and capable, getting the Doctor out of trouble at least as often as he's saving her. And she refuses to make the coffee. (He was having her on, you say? Nah. He meant it.) She lights up every scene she's in and lifts the whole adventure into another category altogether. We particularly like the way she's so suspicious of the Doctor at the beginning. He's been having things his own way for far too long.

MORAL: Watch out for people landing golf balls in your garden.

OUTTAKES

AND ALSO, SOUR WINE

"Sour wine, stinking meat, sour wine - is this how I am served?"

I'LL JUST MUCK IN WITH THE LADS

Why would the Doctor be intending to sleep in the bed the Brigadier shows him when he has the TARDIS there?

THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING. YOU'RE BOUND TO GO ON TO SOMETHING REALLY GLAMOROUS

Look! Dot Cotton!

WE HAVE WAYS OF MAKING YOU TALK

Considering Sarah Jane's supposed to be undercover, she fesses up to the Doctor about her real identity pretty easily.

ONCE MORE WITH FEELING

Oh, no! Not the mind probe!

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE SHOW SO FAR?

Rubeish!

AVON CALLING

When the Doctor and Sarah go into the workshop, how do they know Linx isn't in there?